Uriah43 Review of The Devil and Miss Sarah

The Devil and Miss Sarah (1971 TV Movie)

A Woman with an Extraordinary Gift Encountering True Evil

[6/10 · 7 September 2022]

This film begins with several Navajo Indians warily guarding a man by the name of "Rankin" (Gene Barry) who is staked to the ground and has a black bag over his head. Not long afterward they become quite relieved when a marshal by the name of "Duncan" (Charles McGraw) rides up with a couple of his men to take possession of the outlaw and take him to Las Cruces to face justice. Unfortunately, not too far from the Navajo camp the marshal and his men are ambushed by some renegade Indians who kill all of Marshal Duncan's deputies and leaves him seriously injured. Even so, he still manages to retain control over his prisoner long enough to successfully evade the renegade Indians and continue the journey to Las Cruces. It's during this time that they just happen to come upon a wagon in which a young couple named "Gil Turner" (James Drury) and his wife "Sarah Turner" (Janice Rule) are headed in the same direction. Recognizing that the marshal has been shot, Gil guards his prisoner while Sarah attempts to bandage his wound. However, it is also during this time that Rankin becomes aware that Sarah has an extraordinary ability that enables her to see future events. For her part, Sarah also realizes that there is something evil within Rankin which horrifies her--and becomes equally difficult to resist. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I remembered this movie when it first came out on television but I was unable to see it at the time. So, when I stumbled upon it not too long ago, I was anxious to give it a view. Long story short, it was about as good as I had heard it was, with Janice Rule putting in an excellent performance and pretty much dominating every scene. Likewise, having such an attractive actress certainly didn't hurt in any way either. Be that as it may, while the made-for-television format probably limited its overall potential, it was still a pretty good movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.